Missing 5th gear

[strebes]

I recently bought a 2008 blast off CL, big bore kit installed 'cuz the previous owner rode it without oil and busted up the piston head. Anyways, it runs fine and I'm loving it, but it's missing a 5th gear.

Sounds sketchy (It's really bothering me), but there is no gear above 4th. The clutch lever just won't budge above that. At highway speeds, I need to rev fairly high (~3000k if I'd guess) to maintain 60mph, and it's a real buzzkill.

Has anybody seen this issue? Is this something that can be fixed by opening up the transmission? What in gods name could cause an issue like this?

 

[Buellysses]

I hate to ask the really dumb question, but are you pushing the shift lever down from neutral, then four up from there? 3K RPM at 60MPH doesn't sound all that unreasonable.

big bore kit installed 'cuz the previous owner rode it without oil and busted up the piston head

Any more details on this? Define "busted up". Were there pieces of metal broke loose? Who did the work to repair it? Did they split the cases to clean it?

You can get a decent look at part of the shift mechanism from underneath the primary cover. I'd start there, you can do that without removing the engine and splitting the case. See if you see anything obvious that would be obstructing it.

 

[strebes]

The previous owner ended up removing the piston head (which had deep groves scratched into it), and replacing it with those aftermarket 515cc big bore kits.

I'd like to open up the primary cover, but how do I get around the foot pedal? Some googling makes the thing the shifter drum may be damaged in some fashion, but I'd rather not have to remove the entire engine block to get to the clutch

 

[Cosworth]

Take the screw out of the shifter and it should slide off the shifter shaft, then you can unbolt the primary cover which exposes the primary assembly and clutch drum. Drain the primary first or the oil will go everywhere.